Season 50, Game 12 San Antonio 110, Sacramento 105 9-3, 3rd in the West The last line of my notes from Wednesday’s win against the Kings was: “How long will Pop let this go on?” What was shaping up to be a nice little blowout turned into a tense drama (or comical farce, or a horror show, depending on your viewpoint or mood), as the Kings starters made a 14-2…

Season 50, Game 11 San Antonio 94, Miami 90 8-3, 3rd in the West There are a few games like this every year. The Spurs get a comfortable first half lead and go into cruise control; the other team raises their energy level and defensive intensity, and the Spurs scramble to hold on to the lead and match the other team’s intensity. Sometimes, you get lucky and the clock runs…

Season 50, Game 10 San Antonio 106, Houston 100 7-3, 3rd in the West Another road game, another home loss avenged. At this point I almost prefer playing on the road. The team seems more focused and more disciplined. And they’re winning. 5-0 to start the season on the road, compared to 2-3 at home. What sort of upside-down world is this? Saturday’s game marked a more important milestone: the…

Season 50, Game 09 San Antonio 96, Detroit 86 6-3 Coming into the game, the Pistons were 4-0 at home, winning by an average double-digit margin, and 0-4 on the road, losing by an average of about double digits. Despite the Spurs slow start on their home court, this was a game that was there for the taking. While we all breathe a sigh of relief that the Spurs won…

Season 50, Game 08 San Antonio 99, Houston 101 5-3 In his between quarter interview, Pop did a much better (and more succinct) job explaining this loss than I can, so I’ll paraphrase him: poor transition defense and a lack of organization on offense. That about sums it up. You want more? OK, I suppose I can expound. The Spurs’ defense has been all over the place this season. Despite…

Season 50, Game 07 San Antonio 92, Los Angeles Clippers 116 5-2 Bad news: I checked with the league, and the Spurs do indeed have to finish out their remaining home schedule, rather than playing all 82 on the road. After last year’s magical 40-1 home record, it’s odd to see the team stumble twice at the AT&T Center so early in the season. Losing is one thing; getting so…

Season 50, Game 06 San Antonio 100, Utah 86 5-1 It didn’t take long for the Spurs to avenge their sole loss of the season. Playing with more energy and focus, the Spurs were able to control the game from (almost) the tip, exerting their will on both ends. The Jazz still shot it well from behind the arc, but the Spurs smothered them everywhere else. On offense, they were…

Season 50, Game 05 San Antonio 91, Utah 106 4-1 It looks like the early season schedule finally caught up with the Spurs. After playing 5 games in 8 nights, and traveling from the Bay Area to San Antonio to Miami back to San Antonio, the Spurs looked a little flat on Tuesday night. Not to take anything away from the Jazz. They played a great game, bolstered by exceptionally…

In the second installment of 3 in the Key™, Trace and Dan discuss the fifth game of the season, the Spurs 91-106 loss at home to the Utah Jazz. First, let’s get Trace’s three takeaways… Well, there was no record-setting 5-0 start to the season for this year’s San Antonio Spurs. But the way the very-talented Utah Jazz played Tuesday night, it’s hard to be too mad at the short-handed…

Season 50, Game 04 San Antonio 106, Miami 99 4-0 We’ll start in what will likely become a very familiar place: “Kawhi Is Awesome and Will Destroy Your Team’s Will”. In today’s segment, Kawhi scored 16 of his 27 points in the 4th quarter, including the last 12 for the Spurs, as he almost single-handedly won the game in the final few minutes. I can’t remember the last time the…